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Nadeem F. ParachaNaya Daur |
From the counterculture of the 1960s to today’s ‘Gen Z revolutions’, mass uprisings have repeatedly failed to dismantle power.
From Bangladesh to India and Pakistan, lynchings have become a grim substitute for justice, but South Asia’s mobs are not
Pakistan’s hybrid regime has hardened into a lasting political order, where political parties and civilian leaders exist within carefully managed...
From e-challans to clamping down on fake news, almost everything is lazily labelled as ‘Orwellian’ these days by people who do not
From Iran in 1979 to America in 2016 and Pakistan today, analysts continue reaching for historical parallels to predict the future
From Islamabad to Pyongyang, authoritarian rulers often use myths, ‘magic’ and the ‘supernatural’ to command loyalty, silence
While it is wise to question everything in the information age, questioning the obvious is not an exercise in critical thinking.
As political disagreements turn into social suspicion and emotional hostility, a new form of division is taking root around the world.
Across the world, romanticised expectations of democracy have collided with social realities, resulting in a pragmatic turn where stability outranks...
Karachi’s maritime soul — once buried under waves of migration from landlocked regions — is now re-emerging and redefining.
South Asians’ struggle for identity in the West remains as complex — and revealing — as ever.
The phrase "Afghanistan is the graveyard of empires" is perpetuated by the Taliban as a way to mythologise the image of the 'invincible' Afghan.
Sectarian outfits in Pakistan, such as the TLP, remain outsiders to the ideological lineage of the Palestinian struggle they claim to defend.
From activists to politicians — societies routinely construct, romanticise and discard their chosen symbols of virtue and rebellion.
Constant interchangeable usage of the terms "Islamic" and "Muslim" in public discourse has resulted in an inability amongst most to understand the...
Secular ideas, when imbued with sacred meaning, turn politics into a ‘moral mission’ and reshape democracy’s character in the
Cricket, whether one likes it or not, is inescapably linked to the turbulent waters that Pak-India relations tread and to suggest
Years of ‘judicialisation’ have expanded courts’ role far beyond adjudication in Pakistan. Letters, lectures and public spats
From the Indus to the Rio Grande, rivers are no longer just lifelines — they are now battlefronts. As climate change shrinks and
Calls for new provinces in Pakistan often resurface with promises of solving governance crises. But Karachi’s long, tumultuous
From Washington DC and Brasília to Islamabad, populist uprisings have been framed as revolts of the people against
For decades, Pakistan’s political and cultural discourse has been framed as a struggle against ‘Westernisation’. But the real
The PPP’s hold over Sindh, despite what some may argue, isn’t because of weak opposition — it is the result of electoral functiona
History offers examples of separatist movements succeeding with foreign help — but most often, they become pawns in geo-political rivalries. Is the...
History offers examples of separatist movements succeeding with foreign help — but most often, they become pawns in geo-political
Pakistan’s ideological evolution, from Muslim nationalism to Islamic nationalism, has often been misunderstood. Now, the
While Western nations and institutions still cling to a fading post-WWII framework, even as the ground beneath them shifts,
The evolution of modern political parties, from groups created to protect the interests of the elite into structures that precip
Like most fed only on Pakistani textbooks, the former minister of information Fawad Chaudhry is woefully ignorant about
As globalisation frays the fabric of civic nationalism, nation-states from India to Russia are embracing an older identity model — the...
US-Israel relations are a pragmatic, policy-driven marriage that is now straining under growing criticism and domestic misgivings in the US.
As societies grow increasingly divided along political and cultural lines, and as consumer identities rapidly change, brands must
From Pakistan’s political myth-making to India’s media-fed fantasies of war, the truth is currently struggling against a tide of
If history is cyclical, as posited by some generational theorists, is Pakistan about to enter a new era of optimism and prosperit
Indian social media posts babbling about alpha males, and the larger confusion in the country’s polity, are the result of a
India stoked a war expecting a ‘fractured’ Pakistan to crumble. Instead, it was met with unexpected national unity, military push
In an age of rising populism and fragile states, Pakistan’s ‘hybrid system’ may be less about democratic ideals and more about
From viral videos to populist protests, fame in today’s world is fast, frequent and fleeting. But the pursuit of attention,
Far from being a spontaneous uprising of the people, modern populism has evolved into a carefully curated performa
Contrary to popular mainstream narratives, feudalism in Sindh has long been in decline as a new middle class
The middle classes, in both the Global North and South, have co-opted the Left’s ideological tools to serve their own upwar
The concept of ‘free speech’ is celebrated as a cornerstone of democracy, yet history shows that it has always been controversial
For decades, nations plagued by terrorism and political instability, such as Pakistan, have tried to project a ‘soft image’ to the world.
The banned Balochistan Liberation Army’s journey from radical student activism to a well-equipped militant force mirrors the
In an age where historical narratives are increasingly weaponised and distorted to serve contemporary agendas, are we
Cricket’s greatest captains have always harboured the ability to galvanise their teams when the odds seemed to be against them.
History has shown that transgressions by and against the state, when left unpunished, tend to resurface with greater
Despite the progress of science and reason, myths and conspiracy theories continue to thrive — even among educated people.
Fukuyama’s famous thesis was meant to signal liberal democracy’s ultimate victory over all other political ideologies. But
Technological advancements come with the notion that they are liberating people from the old, soulless forms of capitalism. But